Electrical connector having an internal switch

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector having an internal switch that is opened and closed when the plug and receptacle of the connector assembly are mated and unmated. When a source of electrical power is applied to the internal switch, the electrical connector provides an electrical signal when the electrical contacts of the plug and receptacle are unmated.

United States Patent Bright 01:1. 14, 1975 [54] ELECTRICALVCONNECTOR HAVING AN 3,192,518 6/1965 Silman 340/280 INTERNAL SWITCH FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [75] Inventor: Edward Bambndge, I 650,400 9/1928 France zoo/51.1 [73] Assignee: The Bendix Corporation, Southfield,

Mich- Primary ExaminerDavid Smith, Jr. [22] Filed, Feb 14 1974 Attorney, Agent, or FirmRaymond J. Eifier 211 Appl. No.: 442,564

[57] ABSTRACT 52 us. 01. zoo/51.1 An electrical Connector having an internal Switch that 51 Im. c1 Hon 33/30 is Opened and COsed when the P and receptacle 9f 58 Field of Search 200/5107 51.08 51.09 the connector assembly are mated and 200/511 5 L12 153 M 6 5 6 When a source of electrical power is applied to the intemal switch, the electrical connector provides an [56] References Cited electrical signal when the electrical contacts of the UNITED STATES PATENTS plug and receptacle are unmated.

3,090,948 5/1963 Cremer ZOO/51.1 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HAVING AN INTERNAL SWITCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to electrical connectors for connecting together in electrical circuit relationship a first plurality of electrical conductors to a second plurality of electrical conductors. The invention is more particularly related to an electrical connector assembly that provides an electrical signal when the contacts of the plug portion of the connector are not mated with the contacts of the receptacle portion of the connector.

Most electronic circuits utilized today are connected to a power source or other electronic circuits by a cable that terminates in a plug or receptacle that includes a plurality of electrical contacts that mate, in a predetermined relationship, with the respective contacts of the other half of the connector assembly. One example of such a plug and receptacle type electrical connector assembly may be found in US. Pat. No. 3,097,902 entitled Quickly Disconnectable Electrical Connector issued July 16, 1973 to W. F. Hennessey.

In all electronic systems, it is important that the connector assembly is properly mated and that the respective contacts are in electrical circuit relationship. In a few instances, it is possible that the plug and receptacle appear to be connected together but, in fact, the contacts within the plug and receptacle are not all in electrical circuit relationship. When these few instances occur in a system where there are thousands of electrical connector assemblies such as in a missile or a rocket ship, there could be disasterous results. Accordingly, sophisticated checking systems, some of which are computerized, have been designed to check out the electrical continuity of all the circuits. This approach is very expensive. In most systems applications,

it would be useful to know whether or not the electrical contacts of the connector assembly are appropriately mated or are not mated when the connector assembly appears to be properly connected together.

Therefore, one ever present problem with electrical connector assemblies is that they do not provide any simple and efficient means of giving an indication when the connector assembly appears to be connected together but, in fact, the electrical contacts therein are not mated properly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is an electrical connector assembly that provides an electrical signal when the contacts of the plug portion of the connector assembly are not 1 connector assembly incorporating the principle of the invention comprises a mateable plug 1 and receptacle 100, one of which includes an electrically nonconducting insert 130 having a plurality of pin-type electrical conducting contacts 140 mounted therein, the other of which includes an electrically nonconducting insert 30 having a plurality of socket-type electrically conducting contacts 40 therein and adapted to mate with the pin-type contacts 140 of the other insert when the plug and receptacle are mated; an electrically nonconducting socket contact 110 mounted in one of the inserts 130; an electrically conducting pin-type contact 10 in the other insert 30 adapted to mate with the nonconducting socket contact 110 when the plug 1 and receptacle are mated; an electrical terminal 22 mounted in the insert 30 that said pin-type electrical contact 10 is mounted; and means for providing electrical contact between the electrical terminal 22 and the pin-type contact 10, the means including a resiliently deflectable member 21 that contacts the pin-type contact 10 when the pin-type contact is not mated with the nonconducting socket-type contact and is deflected out of contact with the pin-type contact 10 when the pin-type contact 10 is mated with the nonconducting socket contact 110.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a circuit and connector assembly that provides an electrical signal when the contacts of the plug portion of the assembly are not mated with the contacts of the receptacle portion of the assembly.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a connector assembly with an internal switch for controlling circuitry.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims which form a part of this specification. Further, the use of numerals in the specification is for the purpose of clarification only and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment referenced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE illustrates a connector assembly of the type incorporating the principles of this invention. The connector assembly is comprised of two main portions which are called a plug 1 and a receptacle 100.

The plug portion 1 of the connector assembly includes a dielectric insert 30 comprised of plastic or rubber; socket-type electrical contacts 40; contact retaining mechanisms 50; and a switch assembly.

The connector insert 30 is generally a cylindrical body having a forward face 31, a rear face 32 which is parallel to the forward face 31, and a plurality of passages or bores 33 that extends through the insert 30 from the front face 31 to the rear face 32.

Mounted in each of the passages 33 is a socket-type electrical contact 40 which has an enlarged portion 41 and a forward mating portion 43 that includes a passage 44 adapted to receive the mating portion 144 of a pin-type electrical contact 140. The socket-type electrical contact 40 is retained in a fixed position within facing shoulder 42 so that the socket contact 40 may be withdrawn from the rear of the insert 30.

Located in one of the axial passages 33 in the insert 30 is a switch assembly that is activated and deactivated upon mating and unmating of the connector assembly. The switch assembly includes an electrically conducting conduit 20, a pin-type electrical contact mounted coaxially within the conduit and retained therein by some suitable means such as a plastic insert which electrically isolates electrical contact 10 from the electrically conducting conduit 20. Also mounted within the conduit 20 is one or more resiliently deflectable members 21 which electrically connect the conduit 20 in circuit relationship with the contact 10 when in contact with the electrical contact 10. The resiliently deflectable member 21 may be one finger or a plurality of fingers formed from a tubular metal member which is soldered or welded at one end 26 to the conduit 20, the other end of the member 21 extending radially inwardly away from the conduit 20 and toward the central axis of the passage 33. A plurality of slots in the tubular member defines the deflectable members and allows the members 21 to be resiliently deflectable in a direction away from the central axis of the passage 33.

One portion of the rear end of the conduit 20 includes a wire receiving terminal 22. Similarly, the rear end portion of the electrical contact 10 includes a wire receiving terminal 12. The terminals 22 and 12 are connected by wires 23 to a source of electric potential 70 and an indicator light 80 so that when the resiliently deflectable member 21 is in contact with the central contact 10, the electrical circuit is complete and electrical power is supplied to the indicator light 80.

The receptacle portion 100 of the connector assembly includes a dielectric insert 130 comprised of plastic or rubber; pin-type electrical contacts 140; contact retaining mechanisms 150; and a switch activating member 110.

The connector insert 130 has the same configuration as the connector insert 30 of the other half of the connector assembly and also includes a plurality of passages 133 that extends through the insert 130 and which receives the electrical contacts 140 that mate with the electrical contacts of the other half of the connector assembly. The pin-type electrical contacts 140 are retained within the insert 130 by the retention assembly 150 which includes a plurality of deflectable members 151 which, when in position behind the rearwardly facing shoulder 142 of the electrical contact 140 maintain the electrical contact 140 in a fixed position within the insert 130.

Located in one of the axial passages 133 that aligns with the passage 33 in the other insert 30 that retains the deflectable switch member 21 is a switch activating member 110 that deflects the movable member 21 upon mating of the connector assembly. The nonconducting member 110 is comprised ofa suitable material such as plastic that includes a bore 111 at one end thereof that receives the forward mating portion of the electrical contact 10 in the other insert upon mating of the connector assembly. The nonconducting member 110 is retained within the insert 130 in the same manner as the electrical contacts 140.-As can be seen from the drawing, the forward mating portion of the nonconducting contact 110 is sized to enter the passage 33 in the insert 30, the configuration of the deflectable members 21 being such that they are not deflected until a forward end of the nonconducting member 110 passes the sloping shoulder 25 of deflectable member 21. This arrangement is preferable because the deflectable member 21 will not be deflected out of contact with member 10 until the forward mating portion of the electrical contact 140 and the forward portion of the nonconducting member 110 are inserted more than half way into the passage 33 in the insert 30. This arrangement therefore will provide a signal when the contacts 140 are not completely inserted into contacts 40.

OPERATION When the plug 1 portion of the connector assembly is separated, i.e. unmated from the receptacle portion 100 of the connector assembly, the movable members 21 of the switch are in contact with the forward portion of the electrical contact 10 and the electrical circuit is complete so that power is supplied to the indicating light which gives an indication that the electrical contacts 40 within the connector assembly are not mated with the electrical contacts of the other half of the connector assembly. Simultaneously, as the forward mating portion of the contacts 140 are inserted into the forward mating portion of the socket contact 40, the forward portion of the nonconducting contact enters passage 33. As the forward portion of the nonconducting contact 110 enters further into the passage 33, it encounters the forwardly facing shoulders 25 of the deflectable members 21 and the forward mating portion of the pin-type contact 10, which enters the passage 111. Further movement of the contact 110 in the direction of the rear face 32 of the insulator 30 moves the deflectable members 21 away from the contact 10 and out of electrical contact with the contact 10. Once the forward end of the nonconducting contact 110 passes the forwardly facing shoulders 25 of the deflectable members 21 and the deflectable members 21 are no longer in contact with the electrical contact 10, the electical power 70 which is suppled to the indicating light 80 is discontinued and the indicator light goes off. Obviously, the indicator light 80 could be replaced by a buzzer, other audio signal or switching circuitry, e.g. interlock.

When the nonconducting contact 110 is withdrawn from the passage 33, the resiliently deflectable members 21 return to their original position, which is in contact with the electrical contact 10. Immediately upon contact of the deflectable members 21 with the forward portion of the electrical contact 10, the electrical circuit is energized and the indicating light 80 gives an indication that the forward mating portion of the contact is no longer fully inserted into the passage 44 of the socket contact 40.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the invention as set forth in the appended claims and, in some instances, certain features of the invention may be used to advantage without corresponding use of other features. For example, the electrical circuit may be arranged so that the signal instead of giving an indication that the contacts are unmated, may give a signal or indication when the contacts are mated. Further, the nonconducting contact 110 may be made the same size as the electrical contact 140 and/or the switching assembly may be made to have the same outside configuration as the contact 40 and its retaining assembly 50. Also, the electrical connector assembly may contain twoor more nonconducting contacts 110 and two or more switching assemblies to increase the reliability and effectiveness of the switch assembly. Still further, the deflectable members 21 may be arranged so that they are in the normally open position so that insertion of a nonconductor would result in the deflectable members 21 making contact with another conductor to complete an electrical circuit. Accordingly, it is intended that the illustrative and descriptive materials herein be used to illustrate the principles of the invention and not to limit the scope thereof.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector unit comprising:

an insulator having a plurality of bores therethrough extending from a forward face to a rear face;

a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts mounted in a respective bore, each of said contacts having one end that extends from the rear face of said insulator;

a metal sleeve, electrically insulated from and coaxially mounted around one of said contacts, said sleeve having a terminal end portion which extends from the rear face of said insulator; and

at least one resiliently deflectable and electrically conducting member for connecting said sleeve and said one contact in electrical circuit relationship, said resiliently deflectable member having one end connected to said sleeve.

2. The electrical connector unit recited in claim 1 wherein said resiliently deflectable member has said other end in contact with said one contact to complete an electrical circuit between said one contact and said sleeve, said resiliently deflectable member operable to be deflected and break the electrical circuit between said one contact and said sleeve.

3. In the combination of electrical connector assembly of the type having a mateable plug and receptacle, one of said plug and receptacle including an electrically nonconducting insert having a plurality of pin-type electrically conducting contacts mounted therein, the other of said plug and receptacle including an electrically nonconducting insert having a plurality of sockettype electrically conducting contacts mounted therein and adapted to mate with the pin-type contacts of said other insert when said plug and receptacle are mated, the improvement comprising:

switching means operable to provide a signal when the electrical contacts of said plug are not mated with the electrical contacts of said receptacle, said switching means include at least one set of normally closed contacts disposed within one of said bore, of one of said inserts, at least one of said contacts being resiliently deflectable away from said other contact upon the insertion into said one bore of one of said other contacts from said other insert when said plug and receptacle are mated whereby upon mating of said plug and receptacle said deflectable contact returns to its original closed position and a signal is provided to identify the fact that the contacts of the respective inserts are not in electrical circuit relationship.

4. The combination recited in claim 3 wherein said signal provided by said switching means is a visual signal. 

1. An electrical connector unit comprising: an insulator having a plurality of bores therethrough extending from a forward face to a rear face; a plurality of electrical contacts, each of said contacts mounted in a respective bore, each of said contacts having one end that extends from the rear face of said insulator; a metal sleeve, electrically insulated from and coaxially mounted around one of said contacts, said sleeve having a terminal end portion which extends from the rear face of said insulator; and at least one resiliently deflectable and electrically conducting member for connecting said sleeve and said one contact in electrical circuit relationship, said resiliently deflectable member having one end connected to said sleeve.
 2. The electrical connector unit recited in claim 1 wherein said resiliently deflectable member has saId other end in contact with said one contact to complete an electrical circuit between said one contact and said sleeve, said resiliently deflectable member operable to be deflected and break the electrical circuit between said one contact and said sleeve.
 3. In the combination of electrical connector assembly of the type having a mateable plug and receptacle, one of said plug and receptacle including an electrically nonconducting insert having a plurality of pin-type electrically conducting contacts mounted therein, the other of said plug and receptacle including an electrically nonconducting insert having a plurality of socket-type electrically conducting contacts mounted therein and adapted to mate with the pin-type contacts of said other insert when said plug and receptacle are mated, the improvement comprising: switching means operable to provide a signal when the electrical contacts of said plug are not mated with the electrical contacts of said receptacle, said switching means include at least one set of normally closed contacts disposed within one of said bore, of one of said inserts, at least one of said contacts being resiliently deflectable away from said other contact upon the insertion into said one bore of one of said other contacts from said other insert when said plug and receptacle are mated whereby upon mating of said plug and receptacle said deflectable contact returns to its original closed position and a signal is provided to identify the fact that the contacts of the respective inserts are not in electrical circuit relationship.
 4. The combination recited in claim 3 wherein said signal provided by said switching means is a visual signal. 